


Ode To Sleep

by King_Cymbelline



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Carolina Hurricanes, Comfort, Cuddling, Fluff, M/M, Never gone into details about the dreams but they are implied, Nightmares, Sharing a Bed, does this count as angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-13 09:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10511370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/King_Cymbelline/pseuds/King_Cymbelline
Summary: Sebastian has nightmares and can't seem to catch a break when it comes to sleeping. Luckily, his roommate can help him one night.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this on my Tumblr, but I decided to share here as well. Just wanted to put a use to my account.

Sebastian never had problems sleeping before he came to America. He slept soundly like everyone else, not having to worry or stress over the next night to come. But now that he’s living with Teuvo– away from home and trying to keep up with the other rookies in the league– the stress is starting to follow him in his dreams.

It’s not every night, but it’s often, Sebastian will wake up, tears sometimes running down his cheeks, panting hard and hair disheveled. He’ll take a look at the clock on his bedside table, maybe turn on the light and take some deep breaths, but he doesn’t go back to sleep. He can’t.

He might sneak out of his room to the lounge and turn the t.v. on, volume nearly muted, and watch cartoons or something to calm him down. If he’s out there long enough, he’ll pass out on the couch, but he tries to wait it out.

It wasn’t normal for him to have nightmares; he didn’t know how to deal with them. They scared him, they taunted and teased him, and they made everything so much harder.

Coach started to notice his fatigue during practice. He brought Sebastian aside and asked him how he was doing.

“’M fine,” He replied, trying to play it off. How could he tell his coach he was afraid to sleep?

“You sure?” Coach Peters pushed him. Why wouldn’t he? He needed his players to be healthy both mentally and physically, and clearly, Sebastian didn't seem to be either.

“Just fighting a cold,” Sebastian lied again. “It’s fine.” He didn’t want to talk about it. He felt embarrassed– embarrassed to admit he was stressing and ultimately scaring himself.

“Rest up,” Coach slapped his shoulder and walked away, leaving Sebastian in the hall.

He bit his lip and thought for a minute, should he have taken the opportunity to get help? Probably. Was he going to tell someone about it? Probably not.

How was he going to get over it? He had no idea.

******

Another night, another nightmare.

Sebastian was curled up on the couch, some cartoon flashing on the screen, the volume so low and words so thrown together he didn’t understand any of it.

He was biting his fingernails, the dream he had just minutes before on a constant replay in his head. He couldn’t shake it away, couldn’t erase it– it was just there and it was ugly.

He shook his head, having a mental conversation with himself about whether or not he should just go back to sleep. But he was scared.

“Seb?”

His fingers flew from his mouth and he jumped in his seat, quickly looking over to the hall where Teuvo stood, squinting in the little light the t.v. gave off.

“Why are you awake?” Teuvo asked, crossing his arms.

Sebastian just shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. “Wanted to watch t.v. I guess.”

“You guess?” Teuvo chuckled, rubbing his arms in an attempt to warm up. “It’s two in the morning and like thirty degrees,” He stepped in the lounge. “Why are you awake?” He was determined to get a better answer out of him.

Sebastian drew in a shaky breath, not wanting to explain everything right then and there, but not wanting to lie to Teuvo. “Just a bad dream,” He mumbled, eyes glued to the television.

“You okay?” Teuvo found himself sitting next to Sebastian. “Wanna talk about it?”

“No,” Sebastian was quick to answer. “No,” He said softer, afraid Teuvo might’ve been offended by how quickly he snapped. “I just want to forget about it.”

“Okay,” His roommate sighed, getting comfy on the sofa.

Sebastian sensed he wasn’t going to leave– he was nice like that, staying with Sebastian to make sure he was okay. But it also didn’t make sense to him. Why was Teuvo going to sit with him at two in the morning knowing damn well they had practice the next day?

“Gimme-” Teuvo mumbled, picking up the blanket Sebastian had draped over him. “It’s cold.” The blanket, and Sebastian, were brought closer to Teuvo; Sebastian’s warmth immediately spreading over Teuvo.

“You need to sleep,” Sebastian sighed, leaning his back on Teuvo’s arm.

A scoff, “So do you, Sep, Coach told me you seemed tired.”

Dammit, Peters.

“Just lazy,”

Teuvo knew that was a lie, Sebastian was a hard worker, but he didn’t want to push him any further. So he sighed and turned his attention back to the cartoons, relaxing under the weight of Sebastian leaning against him.

******

The dreams were only getting worse. Sebastian started looking up what the meaning behind all of them was. He eventually settled for stress and loneliness being the main factors that contributed to his many restless nights.

Teuvo was starting to get involved in the dreams– and that scared Sebastian even more.

One day, while they got ready to go to practice, Sebastian begged Teuvo to let him drive.

“You barely know your way to the rink,” Teuvo mused, closing the back of the trunk and looking at Sebastian. “Why do you want to drive so badly?”

Sebastian swallowed hard and stumbled over his words. “I don’t know,”

“Sep,” Teuvo sighed, looking at him almost apologetically. “Tell me.”

The younger of the two knew he couldn’t get out of it, might as well explain. “I had a dream,” He started slowly, the images creeping their way back into his mind. “And-” He stopped himself, physically wincing at the thought of what happened.

Teuvo could tell he was getting choked up; he also knew where he was going with his sentence.

“Hey,” Teuvo said sternly. “It’s just a dream– I’m okay.” He gave him a little grin.

But Sebastian still had the pained look on his face as he stared at Teuvo. “It was just too real,” He whispered.

Teuvo shook his head and pulled him into a hug, some weird sort of assurance and comfort for Sebastian as he closed his eyes and hugged him back.

“You can drive today, Sep,” Teuvo told him as he pulled away, holding out the keys for Sebastian to take. “Just don’t blame me if we’re late.”

******

Sebastian nearly gave himself whiplash when he woke up. He was whimpering, tears still streaming down his face as he pushed himself further up the bed, back against the headboard, and he was shaking- oh, God, the shaking.

His fingers trembled as they found the switch to his lamp, tugging on the blankets as the light filled the room. He couldn’t help but cry, he was terrified. Another dream, another one about Teuvo.

“Is he okay?” Sebastian asked himself silently. The thought of something truly happening to Teuvo worried him, and now all he wanted was go to his room and hug him.

Without even thinking, Sebastian threw the covers off of his legs and slowly made his way to the other bedroom. His body was still shaking, everything was. He felt his hair sticking to his face and tears that found their way into his mouth, leaving a salty aftertaste.

He pushed open the door to Teuvo’s room, heart pounding and mind racing about what he might find.

“Teukka?” He called, his voice breaking. “Are you awake?”

Teuvo initially didn’t hear him, but as Sebastian moved closer to the bed, he started to wake up.

“Teuv,” Sebastian put a hand on his arm and shook him, tears still pouring over his eyelids.

“Bash?” Teuvo was now aware of what was happening, and he could feel Sebastian trembling. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He was quick to sit up.

“I had a nightmare,” Sebastian cried. “It was about you,” He explained. “I just-” He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to explain how real the dream was and how devastating it was.

Teuvo patted the spot next to him, peeling back the covers. “C’mere,” He motioned for him to lay down.

“Are you sure?” Sebastian was a bit shocked. “I don’t wanna-”

“It’s okay,” Teuvo reassured him. “Is this why you haven’t been sleeping?” He asked as Sebastian crawled over him and into the empty spot next to him.

“Yes,” Sebastian didn’t care about whether or not his roommate knew the real reason he was always tired now. He was just glad both of them were okay and he could spend the night with someone.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Teuvo sighed, pulling the covers over both of them and laying back down.

“I dunno,” Sebastian whispered, sniffling and drying his face from all his crying. He already felt ten times better– ten times safer– laying next to Teuvo, but he was still scared to go to sleep.

He didn’t feel awkward, though, they had shared a bed before, he just didn’t want to dream again. Like, ever again.

“Get some rest,” Teuvo instructed.

Sebastian mumbled an “okay” and stared at the bare wall that was parallel to him. He didn’t want to close his eyes.

Whenever he found himself dozing off, he would force himself awake, causing him to jump and shake the bed. Teuvo, being the kind soul he was, didn’t want to get after Sebastian, but he definitely was not enjoying it.

It went on for a while, minutes of silence and then the sudden shake of the bed, the headboard hitting the wall, and Sebastian sniffling. Teuvo felt like he was losing his mind.

“Sep,” Teuvo sighed, feeling the bed bounce again. He turned over and absentmindedly scooted closer and threw an arm over his friend.

Sebastian flinched at the sudden contact and felt his heart rate start to pick up. The two had casually cuddled before, usually on the couch, but never really like this.

Teuvo had his head pressed against the back of Sebastian’s neck and his arm tucked under Sebastian’s own, holding him close as his body still trembled.

“S’okay,” Teuvo whispered against his skin. “We’re okay.”

Sebastian sighed, and you could basically hear the smile he that spread across his face. “Okay,”

Both of the boys were half asleep, barely able to make sense of what was really happening, or what was going to happen, but neither of them cared. Sebastian almost didn’t notice when Teuvo pressed a kiss to his neck.

But that’s okay because neither did Teuvo.


End file.
